"Museum Quality" 1946 Gibson A Style - Only 25k

[tjmangum]

I'm relatively new to the mandolin world, but this CL ad strikes me as rather amusing. Is there something I don't know here?
https://portland.craigslist.org/grg/...%20%2425%2C000

[Bill McCall]

I hear the museums are full.

[Louise NM]

I hear the museums are full.

The museums just aren't "sirius" enough.

[j. condino]

My old hometown of Portland seems pretty full of itself these days....$25k.....

[rcc56]

I'm relatively new to the mandolin world, but this CL ad strikes me as rather amusing. Is there something I don't know here?
https://portland.craigslist.org/grg/...%20%2425%2C000

Yes: where anyone would get the idea that an A-50 is worth 25k or even 2.5k.

[journeybear]

Added this lovely example of luthiery to the Hall Of Fame - er, Thread Of Shame

[NickR]

"I'm the second owner" and the third owner is going to make a thumping great loss if he buys this mandolin at that price! It can go in a museum for misadventure.

[Richard500]

Well, it was a typo in the first ads for the safety razor - a +10X error, I think, that pushed the product into a more desirable realm, and success. And a similar principle works on lots of luxury goods marketing - imaginary rarity’s good too. There’s also the older person finally divesting collected treasures effect:” I’ve always thought this was valuable, and I don’t trust those appraiser thieves, and I don’t really want to sell, so…”
Don’t make fun: it happens.

[GChris]

I was living in the DFW area in the late 80s. One Sunday, the Dallas Morning News ran a classified ad (remember when you could find really nice musical instruments for sale in the Sunday paper?) for a new Fender Strat. It was a kid who had won it in a radio contest, didn’t play guitar and was selling it. Problem was, he wanted $850 for it which was the full MSRP price. It seems he’d gone to a local music store and looked at the hang tag to get the price. I explained to him it didn’t work that way, that anyone could get a substantial discount from the MSRP. He wasn’t having any of it and was convinced he would get his full asking price. For the next 6 weeks that ad appeared in the Sunday paper. I eventually called him back and made a fair offer which he accepted. I’m guessing the owner of the mandolin knows nothing about the vintage market, a family heirloom, perhaps? He somehow came to the conclusion he’d won the mandolin lottery.

[journeybear]

I hope the cost of running the ad that long didn't cut into his "profit margin" too much.

[MikeEdgerton]

He's the second owner so I'm assuming he bought it at some point in time. I was born and raised in Portland. Apparently there is something in the water up in the gorge that causes you to be become overly optimistic about the value of your mandolin.

[Jeff Hildreth]

Dam, that's a gorge ous instrument.

It does have an inlaid GIBSON script and a diamond on the head stock..
That surely added $22,500 to the value for that model that year.

Maybe there is something about it that we don't know..
Maybe I'll give them a shout.


I got it... how obvious.. COVID and Inflation...

I called
Here's the information

" I'm sorry but the person you called has a voice mail box that has not been set up yet"

Tried it 3 times.

[marbelizer]

The seller might be in "sirius" trouble with a loan shark and they need 25 large real quick.

[allenhopkins]

Further discussion on the "Mandolin that won't get a bid or buyer" forum.